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Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Younger isn’t necessarily better

The Browns released Karlos Dansby Wednesday in the latest
chapter of purging the roster.

One cannot adequately blame the Browns for releasing the
quality inside linebacker. He’ll be 35 in November and earned a modest amount
of money.

The latest iteration of the Browns’ front office apparently wants
to lower the average age of the team. Releasing Dansby and signing free agent
Demario Davis, 26, is a step in that direction.

But Davis, who knocked quarterback Josh McCown into
the next week on the Browns’ first series of the season last year, is an
improvement in only the age category.

Dansby was a leader of the defense. Was it a good defense? A
solid defense? Not even close. “So how,” you rant, “can you say that about
Dansby? He didn’t make a difference at all.”

In the overall picture, that is correct. But one man can’t
do it all and Dansby had little to no help on that side of the ball. The pass
rush was absent a large part of the time and anemic when it attempted to show
up.

Was that Dansby’s fault? No. All he did in his two seasons
with the Browns was lead the team in tackles (108) and solo tackles (62) this
past season and rack up 93 tackles in his first season (finishing third on the
team) despite missing four full games with a knee injury.

Whenever a big play was needed, the savvy Dansby was
frequently on or very near the ball. His only problem was a defensive line that
failed miserably in the run game and allowed opposing offensive linemen to get
to the second level.

His departure is not a surprise given the Browns let four other
key players escape in free agency. His exit – and there could be a couple more
veterans leaving – pretty much seals the notion this bad football team is
clearly in rebuild mode.

It’s one thing to build up to contender status and then peel
back when a team gets a little long in the tooth and rebuilds. It’s quite
another when the team perennially occupies the basement of the AFC North.

Releasing Dansby will not make the Browns’ defense any
better. If anything, it made it worse. A lot worse. All of which portends
another miserable season for the defense this year.

Now the release Wednesday of wide receiver Dwayne Bowe is an
entirely different matter. That one could be seen coming for months.What a waste of time and money. Again,
addition by subtraction.

It is hoped the current brain trust will not make the same
kind of errors that have bedeviled this franchise for way too long.